Today was barn cleaning day – Sarah and Josh did it in nothing flat while all I did was move buckets, pans, feed and cat dishes. Wow, it is so sweet smelling tonight – new bedding is a luxury. This time I laid down smaller tarps on the floor and the bedding on top so I can simply drag the tarp outside and shake it off to clean. Worth a try.
Tonight the chickens were all freaked out about the tarps on the floor and they didn’t want to go in – it just wasn’t normal to them so I had to “encourage” them. I should have taken pictures!
It was a day for big jobs so I tackled this mess.
I love working at a job where I see big changes, don’t you? Because I drive the golf cart across the edge of this area I’d like to dig it down a bit and put gravel or blocks in there so I never have to tackle this big job again. Or stepping stones – something other than this.
Reader photos
Monarch progression from Sherry
And here’s the first thing I saw today next to the barn gate – just about the saddest thing I could have ever imagined – a dead juvenile/baby cardinal!!!! I hate to blame one of the cats but I’m afraid that’s probably what happened. Makes me just sick. I couldn’t even throw the beautiful little body away yet – I put it in the freezer. I’ve never even seen a baby cardinal before until I held this little lifeless body. So sad.
If you’re lucky enough to be attending the Iowa State Fair, don’t miss Caitlyn Clark in butter!
I end with my buddy, Hank.
The blue and white quilt is beautiful and a lot of work. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you Janet. It was a gift to my adult son…unmarried, hence the 1 pillow!
Mary, With fall in the air, I was wondering if you were selling copies of your Witches Gathering pattern. Would love to make it.
Connie R – I probably won’t advertise it but I’d be happy to sell it to you – $5 and SASE
Great! Will send my $5 tomorrow. Thanks.
The information about the butterflies is so interesting. I’ve learned a lot. Mary, I’m so glad you are feeling well enough to get at some chores. The cat pictures are so sweet. I’m super allergic to cats or we would have one. So instead we have Eddy our golden doodle. He turned 3 on Friday. The pet store here has “doggie” ice cream a local ice cream place makes. They sell it in a cup and will add two toppings so Eddy got a little dog biscuit and liver treats on his ice cream. I’m not sure if he chewed the ice cream or inhaled it. He sure enjoyed it. They have an ice cream shop near a lovely park on the ocean and sell tons of doggie ice cream there as it is a very popular place to walk your dog.
Mary will you still post pictures of sewing rooms. I sent you some last week but wasn’t sure if you had too many pictures to post or if they got lost in space….
Teresa – I would love to keep posting sewing room pics – you’d better resend because I thought I was caught up – and there were many pics. Could I have deleted yours by mistake???? Resend please. How about a picture of Eddy, too
sherry thanks so much for teaching us so much about monarch butterflies. amazing information. mary, i’m glad you have a clean barn even if the chickens don’t know what to think about it. suppose they will adjust. kinda like when we change things in the house and then bump our toes or forget we moved things.
mary, i’m so thrilled that you have had such a good path set forth for your treatment and that you are happy with the doctors/surgeons/etc. knowing what is coming is so much better than not knowing. i’d much rather know something than fear the unknown.
this has been a rough week medically. long long story involving a reaction to medicine – still working through it and waiting for the meds to work their way through my body. hopefully it will only be a couple more days. used the portal to send a message to doctor. lots of sleeping going on. no sewing. hugs to all, patti in florida
I went out to our local greenhouse/nursery today, I wanted to get a look at the smaller Quick Fire Hydrangeas. I want to put two for sure, maybe three out front of our house. You have a perfect place for that smaller Quick Fire Hydrangea, I just love it that it has irregular flowers on it! I prefer the white flowers but they do turn pink later. If I don’t put them out front I will make room in one of my flower beds in back! I am obsessed with that shrub! I went to a garage sale today and t9 the laundromat and washed a couple of rugs! It is a day without humidity, I swear it is a fall day!
Loved watching and learning about a butterflies journey into life, quite fascinating. Hank has gotten bid and he looks well loved. It made me chuckle to hear the chickens not liking the barn floor with tarps. I bet it was nice to have it all cleaned and fresh bedding. Enjoy the week end everyone.
love all the cat pictures, all so special. To bad about the little bird. Imagine being immortalized in butter lol
your yard looks so pretty
The butter fly was so wonderful to watch, Thank you
Hi all –
I thought some would like the timeline of our caterpillar’s journey. I found the egg, and since I am not sure when it was laid (but likely in the 5 days before) – I have to start from when it hatched and ate its very nutritious shell on 7-11. So for 13 days she started out as tiny as trying to find an eyelash on the leaf to a caterpillar that is nearly 2 inches long. In that time she consumed 2-4 entire leaves (some were big, some were small). Nearing the time she will pupate, she rested and created the web on the lid that will help hold her chrysalis to the lid.
On 7-24 she pupated and was in a chrysalis for 10 days. It is amazing to watch – the caterpillar will hang in a ‘J’ formation for a while and when it starts to pupate – it will happen quickly – most of the time I miss it! But that big 2″ caterpillar forms into the pupa – which is less than an inch long, and sheds it outer skin and antennae.
I clean out the jar and I won’t have to care for her again – for 10 days when the chrysalis turns dark (orange and black as you can see the wings). In a few hours, the butterfly will emerge – this one emerged on 8-3 – – it looks scary and broken at about an inch big, but in a few minutes the wings will expand to full size and begin to dry. They will drip a small amount of orangish liquid and the butterfly will hang for 2-3 hours, drying and exercising her wings.
At this point, I will take the jar outside (I like butterflies but maybe not inside my house) and as with the rest of my cobbled together system (lol) I take 3 drinking glasses and a small branch outside in the shade and balance the lid on the clustered 3 glasses so that the wings can continue to dry, set the branch nearby so she can climb on the branch if she wishes to continue to exercise. Eventually (1-3 hours) she will fly away. And once in a while if I am present – they will come and land on me for a moment! It has happened twice this summer!
Currently I have had 6 butterflies emerge – 5 girls and 1 boy. (I sent Mary a pic of how to tell boy from girl – it’s all in the thick – girl vs. thinner with a ‘spot’ – boy – veins on the wings). Four more butterflies will emerge by the end of this weekend, I have 4 who will pupate this weekend, 3 eggs and the rest are in various stages of larvae, for a total of 22 currently AND so far – from egg to butterfly.
Thanks for coming along on the Monarch journey!
Sherry from Kasson MN
Sherry thanks so much for the journey and all the information!. So interesting!
I was definitely wondering how you told the boys from the girls. Thanks for the clarification on that, and for explaining the whole process.
Sherry, Ain’t nature grand? Thank you so much for the great tutorial. I looked at our milk weed plants but couldn’t find any little dots so maybe next year.
Hi Mary…Take Care of Yourself…to Sherry…Thank You for the Monarch Journey. I will have more appreciation for the milkweed I see as I drive past pastures. Once R saw a Monarch “cloud” of butterflies flying. They were like a low lying dark cloud coming toward him (following the highway). I understand they do follow routes by instinct. Your knowledge and care of them is very interesting. I have only seen this happen at the Butterfly exhibit at the Garden Center. Friday was a visit back to the peach orchard. Time to close soon as the season ends. Later in the afternoon a lightning strike shattered one of our sky windows in the sunroom. Quite a boom in the entire house and roof. It was raining (much needed). We definitely felt plenty of pressure. Always enjoy the pictures/blog/comments!
Helen – a lightning bolt struck a skylight in your home???? Did you get a lot of rain coming in? I suppose it’s hard to find a contractor to replace it – it would be around here. I have 3 skylights and have always wondered if they’d be struck during a storm.
out the door for yet more blood work but wanted to give you a heads up early.
https://jordanfabrics.com – search chicken little
on sale today – thought a few of our ‘chicken loving’ friends might be interested.
more later, patti in florida
Cute cat picture. Must be great to have the barn cleaned.
Great quilt on the bed!
Thanks for sharing the butterfly journey.
Much cooler here today.
4 F1 tornadoes touched down in CUyahoga county Cleveland area on Tuesday. Many customers still without power. My daughter works from home so she had to find a coworking station nearby to work. Devastating!
Sherry the butterfly journey has been so wonderful. How do you know that she’s a girl. Thanks for all the wonderful pictures.
Mary please don’t overdo with all the outside jobs. Now that you have a plan don’t do anything that would disrupt it!!
Seeing the stages of the monarch butterfly has been amazing! Cute cat pics today. Glad your barn is clean with new bedding. Enjoying the cooler weather.
Doesn’t it feel so good to have big jobs done?! And to have the barn done and smelling fresh is a delight. I had to chuckle at the chickens not wanting to go in. You had one of Rick’s “SOB’s” moments with them.
I have been enjoying the cooler weather. I actually had hot cocoa yesterday morning as it was 53 degrees outside. It warmed to a lovely 71 degrees with a breeze and we were able to have our house open all day. I love days like that. I sat on the porch swing for a while, listening to the neighborhood: birds, grasshoppers, cicadas, barking dogs, and leaves rustling in the wind. Pure beauty. Today may be just as beautiful. Wishing everyone well.
Love the cat hug. So sweet! The photo of Maggie is cute too. Wootwoot…to Sarah and Josh for cleaning the barn. Great friends to help you. Sherry, I’m following your Monarch journey. Before I left my daughter’s in ND, I found three Monarch caterpillars on her milkweed. I put them in jars with one stem and leaves each. I have some questions: how often do you change the leaves? Also, should a stick be added so they can get to the top? The stems that I put in had at leat one leaf that touched the lid. When I left this afternoon, one caterpillar was on the bottom side an upper leaf and there was a spot of white cob webby stuff at one of her ends. Do you think that was the beginning of the chrysalis? The grandkids return tomorrow and take over the care of the caterpillars. A funny antidote is when I was telling my daughter about the “pillars” and the milkweed plants, she said, “Oh, that’s what those weeds are? I’ve been pulling them!”
Hi Martha –
Question 1 – If the leaf looks yellow and dry – new leaf. But as the caterpillars get bigger – they may devour an entire leaf overnight. So when they are over an inch long I check morning and night, I make sure they have a large leaf.
Question 2 – the stick – I add a stick mostly to keep the leaf more upright (better for observation) and for them to climb, although they seem to climb the jar sides too.
Question 3 – not sure about the webby stuff – maybe they make that all the time, I have had little caterpillars (less than an inch) ‘resting’ on the lid for a day or two and then come back to eat, leaving some web then too, and also when cleaning the jars I have felt web reaching in – like a spider web. Those caterpillars have a lot to do in the 13 days from hatch to chrysalis! I’ve never had one that didn’t climb to the lid or at least to the very top of the branch and they will likely be 1.5″ – 2″ when they pupate.
Not a question but – I take the leaf, caterpillar and stick out of the jar every day and rinse the ‘poop’ out of the jar, change or add leaves if necessary. Looks better, smells better, way less slimy. lol
Thanks for sharing in the adventure – the kids will have fun! Sherry W
PS Your daughter is right – ‘weed’ is in the name but these weeds are welcome at my house, and probably the only plant in my yard that the SOB rabbits don’t destroy.
Cats unfortunately hunt, but that I understand. What was incredibly sad to me, was finding one tiny baby bird body after another when Hurricane Beryl was finished here.
Beautiful morning glory plants and flowers.
Have a good weekend all.
Love your big white hydrangea. How did Hank get so big? Love him. Debbie storm dumped 4 1/2 inches of blissful rain. This is just a drop in the bucket with our severe drought. Grateful with all we get.
Glad you are not in pain and can move around.
Carolyn b Shenandoah valley Va.